Old South Meeting House; WGBH Forum Network; The Colorful Politician, James Michael Curley

March 27 1964. Meritless opening up. Right across the street right in front of me. We didn't know what it was. Alaska had experienced the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in North America. The magnitude nine point two quake left Anchorage and other communities devastated. Although there would be aftershocks for weeks for most of Alaska the worst was over. But for many coastal communities the horror was only beginning. The mega scale earthquake sent multiple killer tsunamis onto Alaska's shores. The water just completely emptied right out of the bay you couldn't see anything. No cresting wave was just. This huge surge it came up and took the but what boats are left in the harbor and basically roll them around

town. And we should realize I guess that the water was going to come in rapidly. But we're barely ignorant tsunami of the tsunamis are created by the sudden displacement of water usually caused by very powerful earthquakes that violently change the elevation of the sea floor. Tsunamis also can be caused by above or underwater landslides which are often generated by earthquakes. When a tsunami is generated in the open ocean the water is so deep that the wave is barely detectable. Maybe no more than a foot high at the surface but it can travel across the ocean at jetliner speeds of 500 to 600 miles per hour. If the lower part of the wave reaches shore first the incoming surge may actually be preceded by water flowing out to sea exposing the ocean bottom or emptying channels and even huge bays.

Most think that a tsunami appears as an enormous cresting wave but in fact most tsunamis come in as a fast moving surge of water like a monster high tide in fast motion. This computer animation shows how several tsunamis inundated the U.S. Navy base in Kodiak after the 1064 earthquake. The red area indicates maximum inundation inundation maps are critical to defining evacuation zones and routes so that coastal communities can respond quickly in the event of a tsunami. If we want to know and that's kind of. Somewhat of what the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers that told us. This waterfront will be gone. I go it's to protect me to the residence and do the best for him to protect infrastructure and by knowing where the wave. Based on the information and the five-Test we've got a much better chance of preparing the park and dealing

with that.